Car door



Dec. 21 1926.

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THOMAS E. LACY, E SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

OAR 13003.

Application filed November 14, 1925. Serial No. 69,009.

My invention relates to door construction in railway cars, particularly stock cars and box cars, and has for its ob ect to prov de a door for such a car which may be easily opened and closed without binding or sticki-ne.

Another object is to provide such a door construction which is of simple, durable and inexpensive construction.

More particularly, it is my ob ect to provide such a construction in which the weight of the door is supported at its bottom by a rail upon which the door slides longitudinally and relative to which the door is capable of limited lateral or transverse movement allowing the door to be swung away from the door frame without interfering with the slidability of the door longitudinally of the rail.

A further object is to provide means to prevent removal of the door from the rall, to limit its transverse movement relative to the rail, and to lock it in its inner position contiguous to the door frame.

A still further object is to provide a combined guide and water shed for the upper extremity of the door, of such natureas to brace the door against impact from within.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the ob ects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same, taken on the line 272 of Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the caster and rail connection, taken transversely of the rail.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the latter, parts being broken away to better illustrate the construction.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

I have used the reference character to indicate generally the body of a car which has a door opening framed by casing uprights 11 and 12, and horizontal joists, 13 and 14. A rail, 15, of tubing or the like, is supported by three brackets, 16, 17 and 18, secured to the lower joist, 14.

The door, 19, is supported on the rail, 15,

through the medium of casters, A and B,

which each include a'bracket, 20, having a face plate, 21, secured to the lower corners of the door, as at 22. The respective brackets of the casters, A and B, extend away from the door in opposite directions, for a purpose which will be hereinafter more fully explained. Downwardly opening sockets, 22, are formed on the ends of the brackets.

The sockets, 22, are provided in their sides, with hearing slots, 23, (see Fig. 4) which receive the trunnions, 24, ofro1lers,25, which are thus mounted transversely of the rail so as to roll thereon.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the rollers, 25, are of such length that they may be shifted transversely of the rail a limited distance between two limits, in either of which position the rollers will roll upon the rail. In order to limit such shiftmg, and to also prevent removal of the door from the rail, I provide for each caster, a sleeve, 26, cut away as at 27 so as not to interfere with the rollers, and provided with spaced cars, 28 and 29, between which are received the respective sockets, 22.

The ears, 28 and 29, are provided with slots, 30, through which studs, 31, are

threaded into the sockets, 22. Lugs, 32 and 33, on the inner and outer sides, respectively, of the sockets, project from the ends of the sockets to receive between them the respective ears, 28 and 29.

1 The upper extremity of the door is provided with an upwardly projecting rib, 34, substantially flush with the inner face of the door. The rib, 34, has a shoulder, 35, covering the upper edge of the door, and terminating in a downwardly projecting flange, 36, by means of which the rib, 34, is secured to the door.

A guide, O, is formed by a Z-shaped plate, 37 secured, together with a flat plate, 38, to the joist, 13, in such relation that a downwardly opening channel is formed between the two plates. The rib, 34, is received in this channel, and it will be seen that any rain water flowing down the side of the car will be shed from the plate, 37, to the shoulder, 35, and thence down the outer face of the door, since the rib, 34, prevents such water obtaining access to the inner surface of the door.

At the same time, the rib, 34, is so connected to the door .that impact against the door from within will have no effect in loosv tively.

cning such" connection. This is due to the I suflicient space is left for play vertically between the door and guide, C, to allow some tilting of the door vertically without binding. Such tilting might be caused by saging of the track. The play also will allow t e door to slide without binding should the upper guide become sagged.

Returning now to the caster construction, it will be seen by inspection of Fig. 3 that with the weight of the door resting on the rollers, 25, the inner limit of movement of the caster relative to the rail will be determined by engagement of the upper portions of the ears, 28 and 29, against the upper inclined face, 38", of the lug, 32, and by engagement of the lower portions of the ears, 28 and 29, against the lower inclined portion, 39, of the lug, 33. a

When it is desired to all the door awa from the car frame, t e handle, 40, 1s grasped and the door pulled outwardly, the rollers, 25, sliding transversely of the rail, 15, and the sleeves, 26, pivoting around the rail to a position where the up er portion oft-he ears, 28 and 29, engage t e inclined faces, 39", of the lugs, 33, and the lower portions of said ears engage the lower inclined faces, 38*, of the lugs, 32. This position is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Sufficient space is left between the rib, 34, and the sides of the uide, B, to allow slight tilting of the rib re ative to the dguide, so that upon sliding the door longitu inally of the rail when in its extended position the rib will not bind.

As the sleeve, 26, pivots about the rail and the caster is mbved transversely thereof, the distance of the studs, 31, from the center of the rail will vary, and this variation will be allowed by the elongated slots, 30. The enga ment ofthe studs, 31, with the cars, 28 @5 29, prevents removal of the door from the tree The door is latched in its open position against the car frame, and in closed position by means of hooked levers, 41 and 42, re-.

spectively, having hooks, 43 and 44, respec-' tively, co-acting with keepers, 45 and 46, re-' spectively, secured to the door posts, 11 and 12, respectively. The lever, 41, is pivoted to the face of the door, and the lever, 42, to the edge of the'door on its opposite side. The hooks, 43 and 44 are so formed that as they are hooked the keepers the will tend to draw the door toward clo position and toward the door. frame, respec- The ends of the levers may be secured in keepers, 47 and 48, respectively, adapted to receive pins, 49 and 50, respectively, to lock the same in place.

The ordinary sealing device, 50, is pro vided for sealing the door in closed position.

An-opening, 51, is provided in each ofthe socket? pm,- 5 received therein will engage the edge of the car, 29, of the respective socket,

as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so as to lock the sleeve, 26, against pivotal movement relative to the socket.

.113 will now be seen that by disengaging the devices, 41, 42 and 50, the door may be slid to the right, in the construction shown in the drawings, untilthe socket, 22, engages the bracket, 17 In such position the edge of the door will have cleared the edge of the door opening, since the bracket, A, extends to the left of the edge of the door, and the bracket, 17 is positioned approximately at the edge of the door open- 22, which is so positioned that a ing, which is not illustrated in the draw- %'hen the door is in closed position, as shown, the bracket, B, which is extended to the ri ht of the door, will allow the door to exten its position to entirely close the door opening, while the socket remains on the remote side of the bracket, 17, from the door.

Ordinarily the door will be manipulated in the osition in full lines in the figures, in whic position the rollers, 25, will ride upon the rail, as shown in Fig. 3. Should the door, however, become held by the accumulation of dung against the side thereof, in the door opening, or by water or mud freezing between the door and door posts, it ma be moved to its extended position and t ence rolled'along the track clear of the foreign material. In some cases a bulge in the side of the car will interfere with the rolling of the door, and such bulge may ordinarily be cleared by the door when in extended position.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a car door construction, a rail, a door, casters carried by said door at its bottom and having a rollin engagement with the rail, said casters inc uding rollers slidable transversely upon the rail, and guide sleeves slidably and rotatably mounted upon the rail, said sleeves each having a connection with a respective caster, preventing removal of the caster from the rail, yet allowing it to move transversely of the rail,

pairs of stops on the casters, and projecting ears on the sleeves extending between the stops of the respective pairs, and adapted to engage the stops to limit said transverse movement. I

2. In a car door construction, a rail, a door, casters carried by said door at its bottom and having a rollin engagement with the rail, said casters inc udin rollers slidable transversely upon the rail, and ide sleeves slidably and rotatably mounte upon the rail, .said sleeves each havinga connection with a respective caster, preventing removal of the caster from the rail, yet -allowing it to move transversely of the rail, and inter-engaging means on the respective sleeves and casters, limiting such transverse movement.

3. In a car door construction, a rail, a door, casters carried b said door at its bottom and having a rolling engagement with the rail, said casters including rollers, slidable transversely upon the rail, and means connecting the casters to the rail to prevent removal therefrom, said means allowing movement of the casters transversely of the rail, and limiting such transverse movement.

4. In a-car door construction, a rail, a door, bearing elements carried by the door at its bottom and resting upon the rail for movement longitudinally thereof, said bearing members being movable transversely of the rail, and guide sleeves, slidably and rotatably mounted upon the rail, each sleeve having a connection with a respective hearing element, preventing removal of said element from the rail, yet allowing it to move transversely-of the rail, pairs of stops on the bearing element, and projecting ears on the sleeves extending between the stops of the respective pairs, and adapted to engage door, bearing elements carried b at its bottom and resting upon t 1e rail for the stops to limit said transverse movement.

5. In a car door construction, a rail, a door, bearing elements carried b the door at its bottom and resting upon t e rail for movement longitudinally thereof, said bearing members being movable transversely of the rail, and guide sleeves, slidably and rotatably mounted upon the rail, each-sleeve having a connection with a respective bearing element, preventing removal of said element from the rail, et allowing it to move transversely of the rail, and inter-engaging means on "the respective sleeves and bearing elements, limiting such transverse movement.

6. In a car door construction, a rail, :1 the door movement longitudinally thereof, said bearing members being movable transversely of the rail, and means rotatable and slidable upon the rail and connected to the bearing elements to prevent removal of said bearing elements from the rail and to limit such transverse movement.

7. In a car door construction, a rail, a door, casters carried by said door at its bottom, said casters includin socket members, rollers journalled in sai socket members and resting against the rail for rolling movement longitudinally thereof, and sliding movement transversely thereof, and sleeves slidably mounted on said rail and provided with arms embracing said sockets and attached to said sockets by pin and slot connections, allowing limited movement of the sockets away from the axis of the rail between said arms.

Signed at Sioux City, in the county of woodbury and State of Iowa, this 11th day of November, 1925.

' THOMAS F. LACY. 

